Deuteronomy Chapter 3 verse 23 Holy Bible
And I besought Jehovah at that time, saying,
read chapter 3 in ASV
And at that time I made request to the Lord, saying,
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And I besought Jehovah at that time, saying,
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And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
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And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
read chapter 3 in WBT
I begged Yahweh at that time, saying,
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`And I entreat for grace unto Jehovah, at that time, saying,
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 23-29. - Prayer of Moses. Moses knew that he was not to enter the Promised Land with the people; but, reluctant to relinquish the enterprise which he had so far conducted until he should see it successfully finished, he besought the Lord that at least he might be permitted to cross the Jordan, and see the goodly land. This prayer was presented probably just before Moses asked God to set a man over the congregation to be their leader to the promised land (Numbers 27:15-17); for the command to give a charge to Joshua, in that office, follows immediately, as part of God's answer to Moses' request (ver. 28), and the expression "at that time" (ver. 23) points back to the charge of Moses to Joshua, as contemporaneous with the offering of his prayer. In this prayer Moses appeals to what he had already experienced of God's favor to him, in that he had begun to show him his greatness and his mighty power. The reference is to the victories already achieved over the Amorites; these were tokens of the Divine power graciously manifested to Israel, and Moses appeals to them as strengthening his plea for further favors (comp. the pleading, Exodus 33:12, etc.).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) Here begins the second section according to the Jewish division, called "And I besought" (vaeth channan).(23-28) And I besought the Lord at that time.--Two things Moses is recorded to have asked for himself in the story of the exodus. The first is written in Exodus 33:18, "I beseech thee shew me thy glory;" the second is before us here. "O Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah), thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand . . . I pray thee let me go over and see the good land beyond Jordan." It would seem that Moses desired not so much to view the land (which, indeed, was granted him), but to see the greatness of Jehovah manifested in the conquest, as he had seen it in the victories over Og and Sihon. While we cannot allow for a moment that "the old fathers looked only for transitory promises" (see Notes on Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 22:7), yet it is impossible not to feel in this prayer of Moses the pressure of the veil which hung over the unseen world before the coming of our Saviour, who "brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel." Moses evidently did not realise that he might see the works of Jehovah and His glory still more clearly in the other world.
